Where Does Tai Chi Movement Begin? Geek Out with Me

internal body mechanics internal connections studying tai chi studying taiji Jul 10, 2025

This is the type of question that gets the juices...errr...I mean the Qi flowing.

Are you ready to geek out with me?

Where does movement begin in Tai Chi (also spelled Taiji)?

During my first ten years of Taiji study, I was given abstract, near-mystical ideas of what internal movement was. I have read countless books and magazine articles that describe internal movement in ways that are, frankly, difficult to decipher. In 1997, I began studying Chen style, which takes a less mystical approach that is grounded in good body mechanics. Not everyone approaches it that way -- you'll find a Chen teacher occasionally who loves the woo woo, but as a group, they're pretty grounded, and that's a good term to use for this post.

Everybody has an opinion, and I am not going to say a different way is the wrong way, but I'll tell you what I think based on the past 37 years of my experience.

Let's pretend I am doing Laojia Yilu. I have completed "Buddha's Warrior Attendant Pounds Mortar" and have finished the pounding action. I am prepared to begin "Lazy About Tying the Coat."

Where does the movement begin?

As the announcer said in the En Vogue song, "My Love (Never Gonna Get It):"

"Now, it's time for a breakdown."

The first thing that moves is my mind -- my intent. I intend to open and circle my arms as if either deflecting a punch or throwing someone by putting my right hand on his neck and my left lifting under his arm. During this movement, I am going to maintain peng jin, ground path, whole-body connection, Dan T'ien rotation, opening/closing the kua, and silk-reeling, and I'm going to do it all with relaxed strength.

But physically, what is the first thing that moves?

Many moons ago, my first Chen style teacher, Jim Criscimagna, told me, "There's an internal change before an external change."

In other words, there is an internal movement before the main external action.

A week ago, in a class with Nabil Ranne, this internal change in one of the movements was represented by a subtle closing of the right leg.

So what moves first, other than the mind?

Does internal movement start with the Dan T'ien, as many claim, and if so, how do we understand this in a realistic way so we can realize Taiji as the connected martial art that it is?

If you lift me off the ground by a rope, with my feet dangling in the air, and you tell me to generate movement starting with the Dan T'ien, how much internal strength can I muster? How much power do I generate?

I'm glad you asked. The answer: not much. Try hanging on a chin-up bar and see how much power you can generate with peng jin.

But set me back on the ground and let me use the ground when I move my Dan T'ien and create Peng, Liu, Ji, An, and the other jins, and I'll show you something. Try to push me away now. Come on. I dare ya.' I'll lead you into emptiness before you can whistle the opening line of a Taylor Swift song.

There are two things that must be present in all Taiji movement: the ground and peng jin. They depend on each other, and without them, your movement is empty. Mike Sigman was the first person I learned this concept from, and I have spent the past 27 years confirming it over and over. Even if a Chen Taiji teacher doesn't use the term "ground path," it's clear from their teaching that this is the root of power.

Peng jin depends on the ground, and the ground path is connected to peng jin through the body -- the legs, the Dan T'ien, the torso, the shoulders, arms and hands.

So, I'm mulling this over in my mind the past week, practicing movements and putting my mind into my body to feel what's happening, because this is a good topic and I wanted to write about it. Where does Taiji movement begin?

Does it matter? Well, that's why we're geeking out. :)

In the beginning of a movement, the Dan T'ien moves, often sinking slightly. But even in sinking, there must be a while-body connection to the ground. I have peng throughout my body. If the Dan T'ien is sinking to the left, it is likely connected to the ground through the right foot, with the "heel power" from the right driving the ground path through the leg. Now, this can change, so I am giving one scenario.

In this brief window at the beginning of the movement, just before the pounded fists begin a slight rightward turn, the "internal change" is a subtle connection that is happening as you prepare for the closing of the left leg. Then, as the Dan T'ien sinks and turns slightly to the right, the left leg is closing, spiraling to the ground, driven by the strength from the left heel.

This slight rightward turn is the beginning of a change of direction, when we change the ground path to the right foot and the arms open to the left side, grounded from the right heel.

The ground path switches to the left heel and the arms circle, with the right hand going up top. The Dan T'ien moves just ahead of the arms, going over the top from left to right. As the arms prepare to open, the ground goes from the left heel to the right shoulder, then the right elbow, then the right hand.

We don't need to dissect the entire movement, because it varies from one school to the next.

When you are first learning Taiji, you want to learn the choreography and the basics of the body mechanics. Ground and peng jin are essential, in my opinion. Then, as you work on the form, you connect the movement and the mechanics through the body.

The Dan T'ien is essential in guiding the internal strength, connecting the upper and lower body, and providing, as I see it, an essential element to the art of "hiding your center." If you can hide your center and find your opponent's center, that's the ballgame. The Dan T'ien is also essential in developing the "dragon body" that I continue to pursue. For internal power, connect it to the ground at all times.

I work on this type of thing in videos on the website and in my live classes. Taiji gets deeper the longer you study. I love the internal arts!

--by Ken Gullette

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Where Does Tai Chi Movement Begin? Geek Out with Me

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